Montsoreau

The first known name is Rest; it is the name of the Gallo-Roman villa located in the hollow of the valley which pierces the hillside. We then find this word in the name of the church of Saint-Pierre-de-Rest. In both cases, it designates the nets whose Latin origin is restis. A priory is attested from the XNUMXth century. In the Middle Ages, the village then included two towns, Rest and Montsoreau, Rest corresponding to the agglomerated district around the current parish church.

The name of Montsoreau appears for the first time in a charter of 1089 in the form castrum of Monte Sorello. The fortress belongs to Guillaume de Montsoreau, vassal of the Count of Anjou. The first lords of Montsoreau gave land to Robert d'Arbrissel on which the latter founded the Abbey of Fontevraud. The castle becomes the property of Jean de Chambes, adviser to the King of France Charles VII.

The castle was completely rebuilt around 1450. Consisting of a rectangular main building flanked by two square towers, the castle has a fairly austere north facade. The steeply sloped base once plunged directly into the Loire. The south facade of the main building is pierced with multiple mullioned windows. The floors are served by two spiral staircases. The one on the left is contemporary with the construction of the castle. On the right, the main staircase, on the other hand, was erected around 1520 where pilasters and bas-reliefs illustrate the taste for the antique of the Renaissance period.
In 1576, Charles de Chambes married Françoise de Maridor, the famous Lady of Monsoreau by Alexandre Dumas. In the novel, the author took some liberties with historical reality, but it is certain that Bussy d'Amboise, then governor of Anjou, tried to seduce the beautiful lady of Montsoreau. Charles de Chambes had a letter written to his wife in order to attract Bussy to his Château de la Coutancière located in Brain-sur-Allonnes. The governor was assassinated on August 19, 1579.

In ruins at the end of the 1913th century, the castle became the property of the Department of Maine-et-Loire from 1923 thanks to the action of the Marquis de Geoffre, general counsellor. Since then, the site has undergone major restoration phases (1997 then 2016). Since April XNUMX, the Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art has hosted the Philippe Méaille collection, considered one of the most important in the world on the theme of Conceptual Art.

The village develops around the ports on the Loire. The stone of La Maumenière, beautiful white tufa, is famous throughout Anjou and major extraction quarries puncture the hillside. Perreyeux, craftsmen, fishermen and winegrowers trade by waterway. From the wedges along the Loire to the steep streets at the top of the hillside, history, tradition and heritage will delight visitors.

During the visit, discover the Dolmen of Pierrelée, the old castral chapel, the parish church of Saint-Pierre-de-Rest and its carved stalls, the old palace of the Sénéchaussée and its half-timbered walls from the XNUMXth century. century, the mill-cellar of La Tranchée, the prune and apple ovens of the XNUMXth century… A rich heritage forging the Loire identity of the villages of the Côte Saumuroise, of which Montsoreau is one of the jewels.